WASHINGTON In the depths of the Great Recession, the federal government more than doubled funding for a program that helps impoverished families pay their energy bills.
Since then, the program's budget has decreased 30 percent, by $1.7 billion over...

Faced with the most racially charged period of his presidency, President Obama is grappling with the persistent tensions of his relationship with African American leaders and activists — some of his most loyal supporters, but also the most ardent...

Let's hope the Secret Service snafus don't spark even more attackers — or maybe I'm being paranoid.
There's a lot of paranoia going around these days as the Secret Service slips from its once-storied position to being compared to the Keystone...

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U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday called for calm and a change in police tactics in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, which has been rocked by racially charged clashes and riots after a white officer killed an unarmed black teenager 10 days ago.
The violence has captured headlines around the world, raising questions about the state of U.S. race relations nearly six years after Americans elected their first black president.
Law enforcement has made various efforts to soothe angry demonstrators, but police said...

WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve's efforts to explain how its unprecedented economic stimulus will be phased out might rattle Wall Street, but Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the aim is clear — avoiding a severe market reaction that would hurt home and auto buyers.
"We're very focused on Main Street. We're trying to create jobs. We're trying to make housing affordable," Bernanke told lawmakers Wednesday in what might have been his last testimony before a House committee.
Trying to calm...

Last January, after the tragic attack on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords that left her severely wounded and six people dead, President Barack Obama made an impassioned plea to the nation to tone down political and partisan rhetoric. So it's both surprising and disturbing that on the day that Representative Giffords made her triumphal return to the House floor last week, it was amid the cross-fire of verbal artillery launched by many of her compatriots at House members who possess opposing views.
When the deficit...

Click here to download TV listings for the week of April 8 - 14 in PDF format TV listings for the week of April 8 - 14 in PDF format are also available at latimes.com/entertainment/news/tv Weekly TV Listings and more...

ABC's "This Week" has quite the panel discussion lined up this weekend. Get ready for fireworks in the coming together of George Will; Arianna Huffington of The Huffington Post; former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean and Dick Armey, former House majority leader and c